Subtle
Realm
An informal phenomenological narrative:
"It was just the other day, I can still remember it as if it’s happening right now, vivid, electric, weird. I was sitting alone, at home, and it’s around midnight maybe. I have the distinct feeling that somebody or something is in the house—you know that feeling? Well at first it really scared me, I was really scared. I finally got up the nerve to go through the house, checked it really well. I sit back down and it happens.
This really intense fireball, I don’t what else to call it, simply materialized right there in front of me, right there in the living room. I know this sounds crazy, but this has never happened to me before, I don’t see things, you know? But it wasn’t just an electrical thing. I know this sounds crazy, but it was alive. Well, I’ll just say it: it was Love. It was a living fire of Love and Light. I know this as sure as I’m sitting here. It sort of moved in front of me to on top of my head, then back in front of me, then on top of my head. When it sits on top of my head my whole spine begins to vibrate, and shooting currents run up it, right to the top. Pretty crazy, huh? And then as soon as I knew that this was Love, it just disappeared, just like that. It just went away, but it scared the daylights out of me. But then it didn’t, I mean it didn’t scare me. It made me feel completely safe, I’ve never really felt like that.
I’ve heard about, you know, that light at the end of the tunnel? Except I wasn’t dead. But I know what I know, and I know that Love is somewhere out there. My entire body feels different somehow. My spine hurts, like somebody plugged it into the wall socket, I don’t know exactly. But the truth is out there. I know that. Oh, and I know I’ve started praying, just to say thanks."
One Taste; pp.147-148.
From descriptions of the major stages of insight meditation.
Q: So what about the next general stage, the subtle level?
A: As your identity begins to transcend the isolated and individual bodymind, you start to intuit that there is a Ground of Being or genuine Divinity, beyond ego, and beyond appeals to mythic god figures or rationalistic scientism or existential bravery. This Deity form can actually be intuited. The more you develop beyond the isolated and existential bodymind, the more you develop toward Spirit, which, at the subtle level, is often experienced as Deity Form or archetypal Self. By that I mean, for example, very concrete experiences of profound Light, a Being of Light, or just of extreme clarity and brilliance of awareness.
The point is that you are seeing something beyond nature, beyond the existential, beyond the psychic, beyond even cosmic identity. You are starting to see the hidden or esoteric dimension, the dimension outside the ordinary cosmos, the dimension that transcends nature. You see the Light, and sometimes this Light literally shines like the light of a thousand suns. It overwhelms you, empowers you, energizes you, remakes you, drenches you. This is what scholars have called the “numinous” nature of subtle spirit. Numinous and luminous. This is, I believe, why saints are universally depicted with halos of light around their heads. That is actually what they see. Divine Light. My favorite reading from
Dante:
Fixing my gaze upon the Eternal Light
I saw within its depths,
Bound up with love together in one volume,
The scattered leaves of all the universe.
Within the luminous profound subsistence
Of that Exalted Light saw I three circles
Of three colors yet of one dimension
And by the second seemed the first reflected
As rainbow is by rainbow, and the third
Seemed fire that equally from both is breathed.
That is not mere poetry. That is an almost mathematical description of one type of experience of the subtle level. Anyway, you can also experience this level as a discovery of your own higher self, your soul, the Holy Spirit. “He who knows himself knows God,” said Saint Clement.
Q: And the actual experience itself?
A: The actual experience varies. Here is one example: Say you are walking downtown, looking in shop windows. You’re looking at some of the merchandise, and all of a sudden you see a vague image dance in front of your eyes, the image of a person. Then all at once you realize that it is your own reflection in the shop window. You suddenly recognize yourself. Your recognize your Self, your higher Self. You suddenly recognize who you are. And who you are is—a luminous spark of the Divine. But it has that shock of recognition—”Oh, that!”
It’s a very concrete realization, and usually brings much laughter or much tears. The subtle Deity form or Light or Higher Self—those are all just archetypes of your own Being. You are encountering, via meditative development, and beginning a direct encounter with Spirit, with your own essence. So it shows up as light, as a being of light, as nada, as shabd, as clarity, numinosity, and so on. And sometimes it just shows up as a simple and clear awareness of what is—very simple, very clear. The point is that it is aware of all the dots on the wall. It is clearly aware of what is happening moment to moment, and therefore transcends the moment. It transcends this world, and starts to partake of the Divine. It has sacred outlook, however it might be expressed. That’s the subtle-a face to face introduction to the Divine. You actually participate in Divinity, and in the awareness and wisdom of Divinity. It is a practice. It can be done. It has been done, many times.
{An interview published in Quest,
1994 Spring , pp. 43-46.}
"The high-subtle begins at the sahasrara and
extend into seven (or more) levels of extraordinary high-order transcendence,
differentiation and integration…. I will simply say that this realm is
universally and consistently said to be the realm of high religious intuition
and literal inspiration; of bija mantra; of symbolic visions; of blue, gold and
white light; of audible illuminations and brightness upon brightness; it is the
realm of higher presences, guides, angelic forms, ishtadevas, and
dhyani-buddhas; all of which- as we will soon explain- are simply high
archetypal forms of one’s own being (although they initially and necessarily
appear “other” .”
Atman Project pg.78
“By visualizing that identification ‘we actually
do become the deity. The subject is identified with the object of faith.(As it
is said,)The worship, the worshipper and the worshipped, those three are not
separate.”
Atman Project pg.79
(re: Edward
Conze, and the tantric mysticism of Tibet
“At its peak, the soul becomes one, literally
one. with the deity form, with the dhyani-Buddha, with God. One dissolves into
Deity, as Deity- that Deity which, from the beginning, has been one’s own Self
or highest Archetype. “
Atman Project pg.79
“Meditated through high-archetypal symbolic forms-
the deity forms illuminative or audible consciousness is following a path of
transformation upward which lead quite beyond the gross bodymind. This
transformation upwards, like all the
others we have studied, involves the emergence (via remembrance) of a
higher-order deep structure and the differentiation or disidentification with the lower structures (in this case, the
ego-mind).This amounts to a transcendence
of the lower-order structures (the gross mind and body), which thus enables
consciousness to operate on and integrate all of the lower structures.”
Atman Project pg.80
“The ishtadeva is simply a high-archetypal
deity form which is evoked (and thus emerges) in certain meditations and is literally visualized with the mind’s eye
using the high-phantasy or vision-image process….The ishtadeva is real-more
than real- in its emergence from the ground unconscious.”
Atman Project pg81
“Hixon describes it thus: “The Form or Presence
of the ishtadeva (which is evoked by vision-image as he clearly explains)
appears as vibrantly alive, composed from the radiance of Consciousness. We are
not projecting the ishtadeva. The primal radiance which assumes the form of the
ishtadeva is actually projecting us and all the phenomena that we call the
universe.” This high-archetypal symbol eventually mediates the ascension of
consciousness to an identity with
that Form: “Gradually we realize that the Divine Form or Presence is our own
archetype, an image of our own essential nature. ...This, however, is not a loss of consciousness
but an intensification of
consciousness through a higher-order development, evolution, transcendence and identification. “ The ishtadeva does
not disappear into us; we as individuals disappear into the ishtadeva, which
now remains alone. Yet there is no loss of individual being as we bled into the
object of our contemplation, for it has been our own archetype from the
beginning, the source of this fragmentary reflection we call our individual
personality. ...The whole point is that the gross ego has not
simply swallowed the high Archetypal form, but that the prior nature of the ego is revealed to be that Form, so that consciousness
reverts to- or remembers- its own prior and higher identity: “ We remain now as
a transcendental center of consciousness expressed through the Form or formless
Presence of the ishtadeva. We are now experiencing the life of the ishtadeva
from within. We are consciously meeting and becoming ( via higher
identification) ourselves in our archetypal and eternal nature.” Such, then, is
one form of true transformation or development into the subtle real, the
discovery or remembrance of a higher-order unity that is now approaching Unity-
that enters the transpersonal sphere of superconsciousness and discloses only
Archetypal Essence.
Atman Project pg.81
& Hixon L. Coming home
The High-Subtle Self
"...cognitive style- actual intuition and literal
inspiration, archetypal Form, audible illumination, revelations of light and
sound
Atman Project pg.80
The Subtle Level
“As your identity begins to transcend the isolated and individual bodymind, you start to intuit that there is a Ground of Being or genuine Divinity, beyond ego, and beyond appeals to mythic god figures or rational scientism or existential bravery. This Deity form can actually be intuited. The more you develop beyond the isolated and existential bodymind, the more you develop towards Spirit, which, at the subtle level, is often experienced as Deity Form or archetypal Self. By that I mean, for example, very concrete experiences of profound Light, a Being of Light, or just extreme clarity and brilliance of awareness.
The
point is that you are seeing something beyond nature, beyond the existential,
beyond the psychic, beyond even cosmic identity. You are starting to see the
hidden or esoteric dimension, the dimension outside the ordinary cosmos, the
dimension that transcends nature. You see the Light, and sometimes this Light
literally shines like the light of a thousand suns. It overwhelms you, empowers
you, energizes you, remakes you, drenches you. This is what the scholars have
called the “numinous” nature of subtle spirit. Numinous and luminous. This is,
I believe, why saints are universally depicted with halos of light around their
heads. That is actually what they see. Divine Light. My favorite reading from
Dante:
Fixing
my gaze upon the Eternal Light
I
saw within its depths,
Bound
up with love together in one volume,
The
scattered leaves of all the universe.
Within
the luminous profound subsistence
Of
that Exalted Light saw I three circles
Of
three colors yet of one dimension
And
by the second seemed the first reflected
As
rainbow is by rainbow, and the third
Seemed
fire that equally from both is breathed.
That
is not mere poetry. That is an almost mathematical description of one type of
experience of the subtle level. Anyway, you can also experience this level as a
discovery of your own higher self, your soul, the Holy Spirit. 'He who knows
himself knows God,' said Saint Clement.
The
actual experience varies. Here is one example: Say you are walking downtown,
looking in shop windows. You’re looking at some of the merchandise, and all of
a sudden you see a vague image dance in front of your eyes, the image of a
person. Then all at once you realize that it is your reflection in the shop
window. You suddenly recognize yourself. You recognize your Self, your higher
Self. You suddenly recognize who you are. And who you are is- a luminous spark
of the Divine. But it has the shock of recognition- “Oh, that!”
It’s
a very concrete realization that brings much laughter or much tears. The subtle
Deity form or Light or Higher Self- those are all just archetypes of your own
Being. You are encountering, via meditative development, and beginning a direct
encounter with Spirit, with your own essence. So it shows up as light, as a
being of light, as nada, as shabd, as clarity, numinosity, and so on. And
sometimes it just shows up as a simple and clear awareness of what is- very simple, very clear. The
point is that it is aware of all the dots on the wall. It is clearly of what is
happening moment to moment, and therefore transcends the moment. It transcends
this world, and starts to partake of the Divine. It has sacred outlook, however
it might be expressed. That’s the subtle- a face to face introduction to the
Divine. You actually participate in Divinity, and in the awareness and wisdom
of Divinity. It is a practice. It can be done. It has been done many times.”
Wilber, K. (1999) Stages of Meditation. Collected
Works, vol.4, pg. 358-360.
Wilber Correlates
General Self Sense : Soul
Specific Aspects : subtle self
Fulcrum: F-8 Subtle
Pathologies : failed integration, archetypal
fragmentation
Pathology: Subtle
Treatment: Path of Saints
Moral Span: (Post-postconventional)
bodhisattvic, panentheistic, all sentient beings in all realms without
exception,
Locus: Brahma lokas
Affect: ananda, ecstasy love-bliss, saintly
commitment
Levels of ‘Food’: a) God communion b) God union
Gender identity: archetypal gender union (tantra)
Worldview name:
Subtle ( archetypal, saintly)
Worldview general characteristics: union with
creatrix of gross realm; deity mysticism, subtle realm unity
Basic Structures in Other Systems
Levels (Huston Smith): soul (celestial)
Buddhist Vijnanas: Manas (Higher Mind)
Stan Grof: extra human identifications,
archetypal deity, luminosity
John Battista: unition
Chakras: sahasrara, shabd chakras
General Great Chain: Soul
Aurobindo: intuitive mind
Kabbalah: Chokmah/Binah
Vedanta state: dream
Vedanta
body: subtle
Vedanta sheath: higher mind(vijnana-mayakosha)
William Tiller: m-3
Leadbetter: buddhic (illumined mind)
Adi Da: supramental psychic/subtle
Stages
Jenny Wade: 7. transcendent
Michael Washburn: regeneration in spirit
Major Self Line: deeper psychic (Soul), Witness
or (Self)
Rudolph Steiner: spirit-life
Stages of Spirituality
Hazrat Inayat Khan: early soul (angelic), late: akasha-archetypal, arwah - divine
luminosity
Mahamudra (stages of meditation) subtle
perception luminosity
Wilber: deity mysticism- luminosity, saintly
subtle-realm unity
Underhill: metaphysical mysticism-
recollection (archetypal)
Funk: archetypal, theistic mysticism
Daniel Brown ( cross cultural stages of
meditation): a)subtle perception b)luminosity
Muhyiddin Ibn’Arabi ( stations of zikr):
ascending sights, divine light
St Palamas: a) divine light b)theosis
Traditional Samadhis: savikalpa- luminosity,
deity form, archetypal form
Highest Yoga Tantra (level of consciousness):
white appearance (luminosity) red increase
Highest Yoga Tantra (phenomenological signs of
appearance): clear autumn moonlight
General Great Chain: Soul
St. Teresa: prayer of union (ego dies, soul
emerges) luminosity
Chirban ( Eastern Orthodox Christianity):
light-divine-luminosity
St Dionysius: prayer of quiet (unification)
Patanjali yoga Sutras: subtle perception, luminosity shining forth
St. Gregory Nyssa: light
Alexander TM:
Miscellaneous Developmental Lines
Erotic Relationships (Fortune): concrete spirit
Needs (Maslow): self transcendence
Levels of food (relational exchange) Wilber:
soul exchange; psychic visions, God communion
Gender identity (Wilber): archetypal gender
union (tantra)
Affect Wilber: ananda, ecstasy, love-bliss,
saintly commitment
Miscellaneous
Art (Wilber): archetypal (e.g. thangka, bhakti
expressivist)
Melvin Miller (MM) Intermediate-level Worldviews
- teleological:
MM ateleological:
MM antiteleological: